For Immediate Release: March 4, 2015
March Hot Topics:
- TracFone, the largest prepaid mobile provider in the U.S., agreed to refund $40 million to customers to settle FTC charges that it misled millions of people with promises of “unlimited” data service. The Federal Trade Commission alleges that TracFone, under its various brands, advertised prepaid monthly mobile plans for $45 per month with “unlimited” data. Although TracFone emphasized unlimited data in its ads, the company drastically slowed or cut off people’s mobile data after they used more than a fixed amount in a 30-day period. Customers who had a Straight Talk, Net10, Simple Mobile, or Telcel America unlimited plan before January 2015 can visit www.ftc.gov/prepaidphones to file a claim for a refund.
- The College Network, Inc. is located in Indianapolis and is an independent educational publisher. This “F” rated company has over 350 complaints with a pattern of complaints that allege it took weeks and even months longer to get their exam fee back from company than what they were told. The company responded to BBB® in August 2014 by saying “We have experienced some administrative issues around the tracking, approval, and reimbursement of exam fees. While dealing with these issues we have put in place an escalation process to manually submit exam fee payments as customers contact our customer service center to individually deal with customer issue. Our relationship with our customers is number one in importance to us. We have had many requests for checks when the customer(s) hasn't yet completed the required practice exams which had originally slowed or caused some delays in the process. All of these issues have been identified and should be corrected soon." However, as of February 20, 2015, BBB continues to get complaints from customers alleging long delays in receiving exam fee distributions. View the company's full BBB Business Review here.
- BBB® Serving Central Indiana and the Indiana Attorney General have received complaints and questions about a company called the Indiana Council for Corporations after receiving official-looking unsolicited mailings. The mailings ask businesses to submit to the Indiana Council for Corporations an Annual Records Solicitation Form or an Annual Minutes Records Form along with payment of $125.00 for preparation of such documents to satisfy the annual corporate needs of the business. If your company receives anything from the Indiana Council for Corporations, a BBB "F" rated company, please note that you are NOT required to use this company for any reporting purposes, and you may not even be required to submit some of the requested information at all. This company is not affiliated with any government agency. This company solicits businesses in all 50 states and currently has Government Actions against them in the states of Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa and has done business under the following additional names:
- The Mandatory Poster Agency
- Labor Law Poster Services
- Corporate Records Service
- Annual Business Services
BBB suggests businesses contact the state Attorney General's Office or the Secretary of State to confirm what, if any, annual forms are required to be submitted and the procedure to do so. In many cases, required forms can be completed and filed at minimal charge. It is also good practice to check the envelopes of unsolicited mailings for the words: "THIS IS NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT" before ever replying to such correspondence. For further information, click here for the company's full BBB Business Review.
This list is current as of February 25, 2015. Readers should take into consideration the importance of the practice in question and the total performance of the company. For complete information, please visit www.bbb.org/indy
Find these Hot Topics on our website: http://www.bbb.org/indy/news-events/news-releases/2015/02/march-hot-topics/.
Media Contacts:
For Interviews: Tim Maniscalo, President & CEO BBB Serving Central Indiana – 317-488-2202 (Work) or 317-550-8696 (Cell); TManiscalo@indybbb.org
For General Information: Deidra Colvin, Senior Vice President & COO BBB Serving Central Indiana – 317-488-2201 or DColvin@indybbb.org